A celebrated children’s writer and poet who studied at Oxford University has issued a public appeal to families following the death of his own child from meningitis more than twenty years ago.

Michael Rosen, who completed his English Literature degree at Wadham College, has shared his experience to highlight the rapid severity of the bacterial infection after losing his son Eddie to meningitis C in 1999.

The former children’s laureate described the illness as developing with terrifying speed, and he is now encouraging guardians to monitor adolescents closely for warning signs should they fall unwell.

Rosen appeared in a televised interview on Wednesday evening and recounted how his son became symptomatic suddenly.

The author explained that he initially suspected influenza and administered standard remedies before placing the teenager to rest.

By the following morning, Eddie had passed away.

Despite possessing knowledge of meningitis indicators at the time, Rosen had sought medical assessment for his stepdaughter regarding comparable symptoms merely six weeks earlier.

Official figures released by the UK Health Security Agency as of Wednesday afternoon documented fifteen laboratory-confirmed diagnoses, with twelve additional cases undergoing diagnostic procedures.

This brings the combined total to twenty-seven individuals either confirmed as infected or awaiting test outcomes, representing an increase from the twenty cases recorded earlier that day.

Two university students have succumbed to the illness during the current outbreak.

The circulating pathogen has been identified as meningococcal group B bacteria.

Authorities have confirmed that no infections have yet been recorded among residents of Oxfordshire.

Representatives from both Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University have been circulating prevention guidance to their student populations following the cluster of diagnoses.

The Health Secretary addressed media personnel during a visit to the Canterbury campus, emphasising that the current situation differs fundamentally from the coronavirus pandemic and that the likelihood of transmission to the wider population remains minimal.